Capitol NashvilleYou don’t have to talk to Keith Urban for very long before you realize he has an expansive vocabulary and seems quite educated. But he confesses he didn’t come by his “smarts” the conventional way.

“It certainly didn’t come from school,” he laughs. “I quit school at 15. I was hopeless at school. I was out. I would’ve left sooner if I could, but you’ve gotta legally stay ’til you’re 15!”

The Aussie superstar imagines his gift with words just runs in the family.

“When I was a little kid I always liked poetry,” he remembers. “I don’t know. I don’t know what it is. My dad’s a very — got a good vocabulary, I guess. So, maybe it comes from him.”

But Keith doesn’t want you to get the idea he’s is favor of teens dropping out of school.

“I’m always very careful to not have parents think I support kids leaving school at a young age, ’cause I don’t necessarily,” he clarifies. “All I can speak is my own experience is that I — the biggest education I got was when I hit the road and got life’s education. That was everything school didn’t have to teach me at the time.”

ACMMany of country’s biggest stars stuck around in Las Vegas Monday night to tape the ACM Presents: An All-Star Salute to the Troops special. Many of the artists performed duets with members of the U.S. military. Keith Urban kicked off the night swapping vocals with a soldier on “For You.”

Toby Keith enlisted an actual Marine to help him out on “Call a Marine,” and The Band Perry‘s duet with a soldier on “If I Die Young” got a huge response.

Carrie Underwood debuted a brand-new song written especially for the show called “Keep Us Safe.” The power ballad brought cheers from the audience. Fans can download Carrie’s new song when the show airs next month. Proceeds go to the ACM Lifting Lives charitable trust.

Tim McGraw performed another new song from his upcoming album, Sundown Heaven Town, and Luke Bryan delivered an acoustic performance of “Drink a Beer.” Lee Brice got a little help from a U.S. service member on “I Drive Your Truck,” too.

Rascal Flatts, Florida GeorgiaLine, Georgie Strait, Hunter Hayes and Eli Young Band are among the other stars appearing on the ACM Presents: An All-Star Salute to the Troops. The special airs Tuesday, May 20 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.

Photo Credit: Randee St. NicholasEven though Martina McBride‘s new CD is a collection of R&B covers, she doesn’t believe Everlasting is that much of a departure for her.

“I just follow my instincts, and in thinking about what I wanted to sing next, and what I wanted to do next, I thought, ‘Well, I’m a country music artist, and a very proud one. But at the end of the day, I’m a vocalist,’” she says. “You know, I love to sing everything. So, in my shows over the years, we’ve done everything from ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ to Pat Benatar to Aretha Franklin to Journey, whatever. So I just wanted to kinda stretch and do something a little different.”

Martina even picked a title that continues the thread she started with her 2005 collection of country classics. “This music is timeless, but I couldn’t call it Timeless, ’cause I’ve done that already. So, it seemed like Everlasting was kind of the same idea. And I just love the idea. It’s very musical and poetic.”

The four-time CMA Female Vocalist of the Year also welcomes a couple of guests on the disc. Gavin DeGraw duets with her on the Sam Cooke classic “Bring It On Home to Me,” while Kelly Clarkson helps her sing Etta James’ “In the Basement.”

“It’s a good jumping off place singing with her,” she says of Kelly. “She’s an amazing singer– we all know that. And she has that R&B kinda thing naturally. So yeah, she set the bar,” Martina laughs. “She did. She raised the bar a little bit, and I had to rise to the challenge. I love singing with her, and I love that song.”

The group says in a statement released on Twitter Monday night, “After having performed several shows earlier in the week, Gary lost his voice. So, instead of canceling our commitment to do the show, we made a last minute decision to lip-sync.”

Twitter blew up with comments following the group’s performance. One fan tweeted, “Rascal Flatts is probably wishing they could rewind and not lip sync terribly and so obviously,” while another wrote, “Rascal Flatts next time you want to lip sync please practice a little more.”

The Rascal Flatts statement concludes: “We’ve never done it before, and we’re obviously not very good at it. We look forward to singing live again in the very near future!”

Flatts performed at Monday’s taping of ACM Presents: An All-Star Salute to the Troops at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The special airs May 20 on CBS.

The group’s next stop on its Rewind Tour 2014 is Saturday, April 12, in Laughlin, Nevada.

Sony Music Nashville(NOTE LANGUAGE)With three new ACM wins to her credit, including a record-setting fifth trophy for Female Vocalist, Miranda Lambert is lifting the curtain on her new album, Platinum. With guest vocals from Carrie Underwood, Little Big Town and The Time Jumpers, it’s an all-star affair.

Miranda calls the track “Somethin’ Bad” a “rocker” perfect for a “bad*ss singer” like Carrie. “To me, this song meshes our styles,” she says. “It gives her time to be ‘Before He Cheats’ Carrie, and it gives me time to take off running and jump to hit some of those high notes.”

“Smokin’ and Drinkin’” is a song Miranda and Little Big Town both wanted, but she got it first. The idea for a collaboration came backstage at last year’s CMT Awards.

“Karen [Fairchild] told me, ‘You have a song I want!’ So I said, ‘If I cut it, will y’all sing on it?’” Miranda remembers. “When I went in to record it, I thought, ‘If Little Big Town wants to sing on my record we are damn sure taking advantage of it!’ I can’t even imagine what it would sound like without them.”

Miranda discovered the Tom T. Hall composition “All That’s Left” while listening to the radio driving back from a Beyonce concert in Dallas. She decided to give it a western swing feel by adding renowned band The Time Jumpers, of which Vince Gill is a member.

Show Dog/UniversalOn May 16 and 17, Toby Keith will show off his skills as both an auctioneer and a golfer, as he raises money for families dealing with pediatric cancer.

The 11th Annual Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic starts with an invitation-only event Friday night where Toby himself will auction off everything from an African safari to a black-and-white crystal chandelier. Saturday morning, he hits the links with 200 golfers for a day that ends with one of them winning a new Ford truck.

Money from the event helped build the OK Kids Korral in Oklahoma City, a facility that provides a home-away-from-home for families of kids dealing with cancer. Since opening in January, it’s hosted more than 75 stays for families, ranging from one day to eight weeks.

ACMEven though viewership for Sunday’s ACM Awards was down 23 percent from last year’s 12-year high, the show still easily won the night for CBS. More than 14 million people watched the show, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Now, the Academy of Country Music turns its attention to the 50th anniversary celebration next year. Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan will return to host the 2015 show live on CBS from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Sunday, April 19.

Festivities kick off the previous Friday, as ACM Party for a Cause: 50 Years of Music & Memories takes over nearby Globe Life Park. The concert event promises more than 30 artists performing on multiple stages on April 17 & 18, 2015.

Tickets for the 50th Anniversary events go on sale April 15 at ACMCountry.com.

Concerts

A Public Hearing: Pottawatomie County Planning Commission meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 3rd at 7:00 pm in the Sunflower Room, Public Works Building in Westmoreland. This meeting is for the final plan adoption for the Manhattan Area Comprehensive more

A Riley County Community Health Improvement Planning Meeting will be held at the Randolph VFW Building on Wednesday, March 4th from7:00 – 8:00 pm. Join for a discussion on improving our community’s health. Please help identify our community’s top health more

As Soldiers transition from active-duty service, they typically look for civilian employment in their hometowns or in areas near their current duty station. A seminar to help with this transition will be held in Building 210, Custer Avenue from noon more

Lunch With League will be held on Thursday, March 5th from 12:00 to 1:00 pm at Bluestem Bistro. Please join them each 1st Thursday of the month for updates, program planning, and conversation. The topic this month will be Transparency. more

A Riley County Community Health Improvement Planning Meeting will be held at the Leonardville Community Center on Thursday, March 5th from 6:30-8:00 pm. Join for a discussion on improving our community’s health. Please help identify our community’s top health priorities more